The legendary filmmaker Claire Denis recalls getting to know Denis Johnson and explains how she came to adapt the late author's 'The Stars at Noon.'
” set in Djibouti with Foreign Legionnaires. In the story, an envious officer sets a trap for a popular enlisted man, triggering tragedy.
I was in L.A. and went to Sunset Boulevard near my hotel and this beautiful bookseller. I bought a few of his novels, also some poetry. Then I read “The Stars at Noon.” I have to say, I was deeply touched. It was told in the first person, the first person being a woman in dire straits. I wrote to the publisher, who sent the address of his agent. I told his agent I would be very happy if I could meet Denis.
Denis Johnson, the beloved, award-winning author best known for his seminal collection “Jesus’ Son” died Wednesday at age 67. Before COVID, I visited Nicaragua and went everywhere Denis was. I tried to adapt the script to be as true as I could to the novel — except for telling the novel in the first person, in this unique style of Denis Johnson. It’s Romanesque, melancholy and brutal, cruel sometimes. I felt: If I do it in the first person, it may be too brutal. And maybe it would mean voice-over, and kill a bit of the actress’ interpretation. So, I rewrote the script as third-person.
I had found a nice place by the sea for the last part of the novel; I knew who was going to be the barman. And in the script was also the blue crab [from the novel] — this last chapter of her alone, feeling ashamed and sad.
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